2014 Class Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards

Memphis, TN, April 01, 2015 - The Hartwell Foundation today officially announced the winners of 2014 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards, which will provide support for three years at $100,000 direct cost per year. Twelve individuals representing ten institutions received recognition as Hartwell Investigators:

Shira L. Robbins, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego for "Omega-3 Fatty Acids as a Therapy for the Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity"

Brian A. Cobb, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University for "Harnessing Lymphocyte Cooperativity for the Treatment and Prevention of Asthma"

The Hartwell Foundation is pleased to provide financial support to these exceptional scientists who are pursuing biomedical research to advance childrens health. The award winning
proposals for 2014 represent innovative and cutting edge technology from research areas that include Molecular Biology, Infectious Disease, Medical Diagnostics, Neurobiology, Diagnostic Imaging, and Physiology.

Each year The Hartwell Foundation invites a limited number of institutions in the United States to hold an internal open competition to nominate candidates from their faculty who are involved in early-stage, innovative, and cutting-edge biomedical research that has not yet qualified for significant funding from outside sources. In the 2014 competition there were 15 participating institutions. Based upon the Nominees submitted, the Foundation selected the top researchers to receive a Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. Notably, in the 2014 Class, Nominees from ten different schools won Awards; the University of Wisconsin and Johns Hopkins University each received two Awards.

"The 2014 competition was very strong. Nominees embraced the opportunity by leveraging internal support and guidance from their participating institution, as well as the experience of previous Hartwell Investigators," said Fred Dombrose, President of The Hartwell Foundation.

For each Nominee selected for a Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award the sponsoring participating institution receives a Hartwell Fellowship to fund one postdoctoral candidate who exemplifies the values of the Foundation. Hartwell Fellowships offer support for two years at $50,000 direct cost per year to support scientists in the early stages of their research careers by enabling them to pursue further specialized training in biomedical research as part of their professional career development.

"While significant early-stage funding benefits the individual researcher, participating institutions also receive recognition in the form of Hartwell Fellowships that they designate to qualified postdoctoral researchers," said Dombrose.

The Hartwell Foundation seeks to inspire innovation and achievement by offering individual researchers an opportunity to realize their professional goals. In selecting awardees, the Foundation takes into account the compelling and transformative nature of the proposed innovation, the extent to which a strategic or translational approach might accelerate the clinical application of research results to benefit children of the United States, the extent of collaboration in the proposed research, the institutional commitment to provide encouragement and technical support to the investigator, and the extent to which funding the investigator will make a difference.